Easy Peasy Kale Powered Pasta

In case you hadn’t noticed, I’ve travelled a lot in the past month or so. And while I still try to eat healthily while travelling (of course with some indulgences), I still come home craving vegetables and home-cooked meals.

I have a huge thing of kale in my fridge that, thankfully, hasn’t gone bad. I wanted to power up my lunch with some kale, but I didn’t have enough time to make kale chips and didn’t feel like massaged kale.

Enter kale in a pot. With pasta. Steamy, isn’t it? Kale and pasta love each other.

Did you know that pasta the size of penne or rotini takes about the same amount of time to cook as kale? It’s true.

Check out the protein and fiber in this. You can’t get those stats from white pasta. And luckily, the whole grain pairs quite well with this dish.

What’s easier than canned tomatoes? Nothing, I say.  Nothing except garden fresh tomatoes. Which we don’t have yet. So canned it is. (FYI, buy organic canned tomatoes. Your taste buds and the environment will thank you.)

We have an abundance of Romano. Although, actually, I think that the lids got switched and I really used Parmesan.

We also have an abundance of basil. (Remember?) In addition to basil and mint, we are growing thyme so I snagged some of that from the garden while the pasta and kale were cooking. Don’t worry…I washed off the dirt.

So, you want some directions? It’s really easy.

Easy Peasy Kale Powered Pasta

Ingredients (makes 1 serving)

• 4-5 stalks kale, rinsed and torn into bite sized pieces
• 2 oz whole grain pasta (penne or rotini works well)…who even knows what 2 oz is? I didn’t bust out my scale, just measured a heaping 1/2 c. (dry).
• 1 can of diced tomatoes (you won’t use the whole thing) or fresh tomatoes, about 1/4 – 1/2 c.
• 1 T fresh basil (people, you gotta do fresh)
• 1-2 small pieces of rosemary
• Shredded parmesan cheese
• Freshly ground pepper, to taste

1. Bring a pot of lightly salted water to a boil.
2. Add the pasta and the kale. Cook for 9 minutes or so. You want the pasta to still have a bit of a “bite” to it. Al dente, if you will.
3. While the pasta and kale are cooking, chop your fresh tomatoes or whine that you don’t have fresh ones and open up your canned of diced tomatoes.
4. After you deal with your tomato issue, run to your garden and pick some basil and rosemary. (What? You don’t have an herb garden? You should. Really. Herbs grow for even the worst gardeners.) Or grab some fresh herbies out of your fridge and chop ‘em up.
5. When your pasta and kale are done, drain and place in a serving bowl.
6. Top with tomatoes, herbies, cheese and pepper to taste.
7. Voila! You’ve got a fresh, colorful and delicious lunch.

(After I ate about half of this, I dumped a bunch of nutritional yeast on there. It was tasty.)

How does your garden grow? Do you have one? If so, what’s in it? If not, have you considered a windowsill planter? Those work great for herbs!